Actions and Detail Panel

Event Information

Date and Time

Location

Webex

Refund Policy

Refund Policy

Contact the organizer to request a refund.

Event description

Description

In the past, improvements in business entry and regulatory policy have lowered a number of market barriers in the telecom and TV industries, enabling competition and access. As this shift has occurred, what bottlenecks are left or have emerged in the new digital environment?

This event will discuss three asserted bottlenecks:

1. Powerful central digital platform companies have emerged which are integral to user’s daily lives. These companies, Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google, referred to by the acronym FANGs, (in Europe, GAFAMs by including Microsoft and Apple) have become central intermediaries in the internet environment. As these companies wield market power in their segments, what are the policy implications?

2. In transmission, the bottleneck is alleged to have moved upstream, from the classic Last Mile to the Middle Mile--transporting data from the content provider to the ISP. When there are few companies in the business, how to avoid this segment from becoming the next bottleneck?

3. Video Cloud providers like Amazon, Apple, HP, Microsoft, or Google are providing the infrastructure and bridging for content providers and packagers. If they have market power they affect the entire emerging media system.

This half day online conference will explore the potential or actual disruption by the new content and distribution platforms and their impact on media and technology markets. It will also analyze the various public policy options that have been advocated. The focus will be on real issues that exist and what responses might be.

Agenda

9:00-9:15am Welcome

Eli Noam, Paul Garrett Professor of Public Policy and Business Responsibility, Columbia Business School and Director, Columbia Institute for Tele-Information